Equality Act 2010: Public Sector Equality Duty what do I need to know?

Common misunderstandings aboutthe Equality DutyUnder the previous public sector equality duties (forrace, disability and gender), public bodies sometimestook unnecessary, inappropriate, disproportionate orcounter-productive action in the name of equality.The new Equality Duty should be applied in sucha way as to reverse the overly-bureaucratic andburdensome approach often used under theprevious duties, so that the focus is on performance,not process.4The Equality Duty does not imposea legal requirement to conduct anEquality Impact Assessment 2 . Nor isthere is any practical need to conduct one.Compliance with the Equality Duty involvesconsciously thinking about the three aims ofthe Equality Duty as part of the process ofdecision-making. That will entail understandingthe potential effects of the organisation’sactivities on different people, but there is noprescribed process for doing this. Keepinga simple record of how decisions werereached will help public bodies show how theyconsidered the Equality Duty. Producing anEquality Impact Assessment after a decisionhas been reached will not achieve compliancewith the Equality Duty.4The Equality Duty does not mean thatpublic bodies have to examine equalityissues where they are not relevantto the matter in hand. Where it is clearfrom initial consideration that a policy willnot have any effect on equality for any of theprotected characteristics, no further analysisor action is necessary. For example, if a publicbody is conducting a review in relation to anissue which has no implications for equality –such as an evaluation of the effect of coastalpollution on marine life – undertaking a formalconsultation or analysis addressing equalityissues where it is evident that the EqualityDuty is not relevant would be pointless and isnot required.4The Equality Duty does not requirepublic bodies to take disproportionateaction on equality. Public bodies shouldtake a proportionate approach whencomplying with the Equality Duty – in practice,this means giving greater consideration to theEquality Duty where a function or policy hasthe potential to have a substantial effect ondiscrimination or equality of opportunity forthe public or the public body’s employees, andless consideration where the potential effecton equality is slight.For example, a public body might decideto translate a leaflet about a key publicservice into a few commonly spokenminority languages, in order to ensurepeople from particular ethnic minoritycommunities have access to the service.2The specific duties which apply to relevant Welsh public bodies contain a requirement to make arrangements for assessing the likely impact oftheir activities on their ability to comply with the Equality Duty.8